I am behind in posting things.... so this was from a few weeks ago. We had two solid days of torrential rain. I went to the park to see if I could find the lone, orphaned baby duck I had been feeding every day (with the hope it would get big enough to not be so appealing as a meal to every predator around). I didn't see it that day and feared the worst. I went it Wellies and tromped through all kinds of reeds and muck to look for it and had the fire ant and mosquito bites to prove it for about two weeks.
Discouraged, I was headed home and saw Mr and Mrs Goose searching for something in the flooded grass. I had cracked corn with me, which they will eat out of my hand, so I called to them. As they usually do, they trumpet rather loudly, and, led me Mr. Goose, the two came over. He gallantly assumed the position, threatening me with his beak in attack mode as they approached, while the Mrs. followed behind, confident that he was on the case. I have seen people run from this posturing, but I just stand there and talk to them in a bit of a sing song way. I know I am not there to harm them, and in fact, I am bringing them something natural and good to eat.
You would not believe how utterly soft they are. When they eat like this I get to feel their necks as they occasionally brush against me. They just don't make the words to describe how it feels.
I suppose it's obvious by now... These two are my absolute favorite birds and I pamper them when they let me. Something new I've noticed this year is that they both have kind of fleshy feathery knickers hanging down over their little legs, when they didn't before. I've seen Geese who have quite a bit of this waddle, but I assumed it was quite like our chins -- something that can sag as one gets on in years. Does anybody know about this?
Best of all, the next day I went back and saw that baby duck. Who knows where it was hiding when I was searching high and low. I fed it quite a bit and noticed it had doubled in size, and was getting in some real feathers, at least teen age ones, in place of fuzz.
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3 comments:
Aww, as my dad would say "A nice day for ducks" or geese, HaHaMeow!
My mom used to tell the story of the next door neighbor's geese that would chase her. She was very pregnant and they lived in a new house in St. Paul, MN and she had a hard time out running them. They had an out house so she had to brave the yard quite frequently (when you're preggers you do frequent the loo quite a bit).
you have compassions for animals and that is one character i like in you, so everytime i read your post ,i truly enjoyed it, thanks for this one.
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